Cambridge and international development - The Humanitarian Centre

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4 Overcoming the obstacles Nine out of ten business innovations in the West fail. While there are no comparable figures for the development sector, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that many good ideas do not get off the ground Innovation involves moving from idea to implementation. Typically, an idea or invention with potential is tested, and possible users targeted as it is developed, adapted and widely disseminated. During this progression, the process of testing, learning and adapting the idea or invention to the needs of potential users will determine whether it develops into an innovation, or remains a ‘good idea’. We can model the innovation process as having four broad stages: • Inventing: the idea stage • Piloting: carrying out initial testing of the idea as a prototype • Disseminating: the piloted idea spreading, whether deliberately or spontaneously • Adopting: the idea becoming widely accepted. An estimated 90% of commercial innovation ends in failure with the odds stacked against successful completion of the process. Ideas and inventions can be taken to scale in one of two ways: they can be actively disseminated by an innovator or spontaneously adapted by people, in totally unexpected ways. In organisational settings, innovation is often quite formal. Cambridge organisations provide many successful examples of such a process. Learning from mistakes is a crucial part of the innovation process described above. Learning is the process of examining the disparity between an idea and reality, understanding why there is this gap, and making changes to narrow it. The innovation process involves constantly testing, learning and adjusting the innovation so that it can be taken to scale. The following case studies describe some of the ways in which Cambridge innovations have gone to scale. They also illustrate some of the barriers facing innovators, as well as the role of failure and learning in developing successful innovations. Spreading the word of female literacy Histon charity Afrinspire has designed its women’s literacy programme to grow at low cost. Afrinspire founder Ian Sanderson was approached by a Ugandan woman, Rose Ekitwi, who was anxious to spread literacy and education to other women. Afrinspire supported Rose to train an initial group of twenty women to read, and also how to pass on this skill to other women. This initial body then went on to form further groups, some of whom, in turn, went on to form additional groups. The programme reached out beyond just reading and numeracy, encompassing important practical homestead, farming and financial skills as well. © CBM-UK 18
Kerri ole Sane, a 7-month-old Maasai boy, is given a vitamin A capsule by nurse Patrick Kibe to protect him against a deficiency that could make him blind. Cambridge-based charity CBM-UK works with community partners to make sure that medical innovations are distributed around the world to reach people who need them 19
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Cambridge and international development - The Humanitarian Centre

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